Connecticut Magazine
September 2008

Restaurant family dumps the pizza and starts making some real dough
by Tom Connors

NORWALK - When Maria Marchetti and her growing family took over Pizza Time in Norwalk in 1983, she had the will and spirit to make it in the restaurant business and the belief that food and family go hand in hand. What the Marchettis didn't have was the know-how to make a pizza. "Dad put his fist through the pizza when he was trying to make it," recalls Frank Marchetti, the 32-year old managing partner of Marchetti Management Service, LLC, which now includes real estate, catering, and importing, along with four restaurants with loyal customer followings.

The Marchettis, along with Maria's brother, Michael Tarantino, didn't even have a regular stove or a fryer in their new "restaurant." When Maria received her first order for fried calamari and pasta, she ran out and bought a table-top fryer and two electric burners at Caldor's.

"Those were the days when pizzerias weren't restaurants," said Michael Marchetti, Frank's older brother and head of the operations side of the growing Marchetti empire. Sitting in the popular and well respected Columbus Park Trattoria in downtown Stamford, with its stylish interior, gorgeous bar and world -class food, it is hard to imagine that the Marchettis ever struggled in the restaurant business. But it does not take long to understand how they turned around their early missteps to eventually open Maria's Trattoria in early 1984 , followed by Apulia in South Norwalk in 1985, (now closed), Columbus Park in 1987, and both Osteria Applausi in Greenwich and Osteria Tarantino's in Westport in 1994.

Take a strong sense of family and hard work and add authentic Italian cooking from a family that came to this country from Gravina in Puglia, Italy in the 1960's. By offering homemade pasta, made to-order dishes with fresh imported ingredients, and ditching the pizza, the Marchettis quickly established a word-of mouth reputation. "The wait at Maria's could get to three hours and we didn't even have a bar," Frank Said. "People would go to the place next door and wait." Along with the food, though, was that intangible ingredient that separates great restaurants from the pretenders. These are "everyone knows your name" places where customers know other customers and are considered part of the family

"When people eat (at our restaurants), they are eating at our home," Frank said. Nearly 30 members of the Marchetti/Tarantino clan have worked at the family's restaurants in the past two decades, Michael said, and there is at least one family member at the restaurants at most any time of the day. Whether by chance or design, this is a partnership in its truest sense. Everyone has their role and everyone is willing to pitch in wherever help is needed. Frank with his investment banking background handles financial matters. Michael, who was known to work until midnight, sleep a few hours, and hop in a van to go to Fulton Fish Market in New York to get the fresh catch, handles operations and the company's catering business. Antonio, 27, is the manager at Applausi in Greenwich

John Paul, Rosa and Alessandro are probably not far behind their older brothers. "We all grew up with the sights and the sounds of the restaurant business," Michael said, "it's in our blood." This is a family that is so close and works so hard during the week that they don't open their restaurants on Sundays in order to spend time together. Although the second generation of Marchettis have helped modernize and grow their operations - which now includes their own truffle operation in Umbria, Italy - they are quick to credit those who came before them.

Maria is the creative, artistic force. Tony, a chemical engineer by trade who worked three jobs at one point to support the family, was the numbers cruncher and amiable front man. Michael Tarantino had the expertise in restaurants and was a "forward thinker." "We're standing on the shoulders of giants," Frank said.

In honor of their 20 years in business the family is holding an invitation-only traveling dinner on Tuesday night where some of their biggest fans will have the opportunity to sample fare at all four of the restaurants.

Short Order
The Fairfield County Weekly - November 25, 2004

I walked into Tarantino's and knew right away that I was about to enjoy a delicious meal. Coming in from the chilly night air, the place smelled fantastic - and not because I was hungry, because actually I wasn't. My lack of appetite didn't stop me from enjoying several courses through, including a ridiculously flavorful whole wheat linguine with mixed mushrooms and truffle oil. It was absolutely one of the best pastas I have ever eaten, with just the right amount of mushroom flavor but not so much that it obscured the wheaty goodness of the pasta. It was one of those sauces that you have to mop up with your bread even through you're full, because each bit is such a delicious one.

Rated as one of the best-kept secrets in Connecticut
Zagat Survey

You know what you get” at this “popular and reliable” small Italian opposite the Westport train station – and what you get is “great osso buco”, gelato, “good service” and a “nice neighborhood feel”, adding up to a “truly enjoyable experience” that’s “one of the best-kept secrets around